Chancellor Esteban
Chancellor Esteban is a character who appears in the animated series, Elena of Avalor. He is Princess Elena and Princess Isabel's maternal older first cousin and the former Chancellor of Avalor. Background Personality As Chancellor of Avalor, Esteban is very knowledgeable of The Kingdom of Avalor and, as he himself boasts, knows "anyone who's anyone in Avalor". He is also a firm adherent to etiquette. He is shown to also be both shameless and a bigot. Because of this, he can be snooty and is not liked much. He thinks his cousin Elena is too young to bear the responsibilities that come with ruling a kingdom and disapproves of her personal approach to leadership to the point where he constantly seeks to become the power behind the throne by undermining her and hates being reminded that she is the one in charge as Crown Princess and successor to her parents, King Raul and Queen Lucia. He also wants Elena and Isabel to behave properly for their stations, likely so that they will be easily able to do what is expected of them. Unlike Elena, he is happy to delegate responsibilities to others and simply give orders from the sidelines. Despite his differences with Elena, he does care about her enough to want to keep her safe and values his family quite enough. In fact, in "Island of Youth", he chooses to save Elena's life rather than retrieve his canteen to keep himself young, showing how he values family most of all, considering how Shuriki double-crossed him with murdering his aunt and uncle and possibly Elena after he explicitly asked his family would be left unharmed when she took over with his support and Alacazar had to imprison the rest of his family in an enchanted painting to keep them safe. Physical Appearance Esteban, in comparison to the majority of the other characters, is the tallest and has a rather slender physique. He has short, slicked dark brown hair that is slightly greying around his temples with wavy side bangs that fall just above his ear. His eyes appear to be a warm, hazelnut or amber color. Although he appears in his early 30's, it is stated that he's in his fifties and was able to keep his youthful appearance thanks to exfoliation. He is commonly portrayed in a wine coat with yellow and black accents, a yellow and blue sash, yellow neckerchief, (possibly) blue dress shirt, white trousers, and black boots. Appearances Season One * First Day of Rule (first appearance) * Island of Youth * Spellbound (no lines) * Finders Leapers * A Day to Remember * Navidad * Elena and the Secret of Avalor (flashbacks) * King of the Carnaval * My Fair Naomi * Realm of the Jaquins Season Two * A Spy in the Palace * Rise of the Sorceress * Shapeshifters * Song of the Sirenas * The Tides of Change * Return of El Captian (cameos) * Snow Place Like Home Season Three * The Incredible Shrinking Royals * Norberg Peace Prize * The Magic Within * Dreamcatcher * Captain Mateo * Spirit of a Wizard * Role in Animated Shows Sofia the First Esteban appeared in the special, Elena and the Secret of Avalor. In the episode "King of the Carnival", it is revealed that he was able to survive Shuriki's purge because he was one of the people who made a deal with her prior to her invasion, promising to help her take over Avalor in exchange for a position of power, but only if she left his family unharmed, which Shuriki only partially fulfilled when she still murdered King Raul and Queen Lucia to secure her reign and kicked the Delgados out of Avalor. Esteban eventually felt horrible about what he did, but initially kept it to himself, not wanting to get on Shuriki's bad side if he chose to rebel against her if it meant losing his position as Chancellor, or worse, ending up like Raul and Lucia, so when Elena came back to challenge Shuriki with the support of the people behind her along with the rest of his family, he stood up to her and helped Elena defeat Shuriki and liberate the Kingdom of Avalor, even maintaining his position as Chancellor under Elena's reign. Elena of Avalor As Chancellor of Avalor, Esteban is a major character in the show that is the sequel to the special. He is a member of the Grand Council of Avalor, alongside his grandparents and Naomi. He was chosen by Elena for his extensive knowledge of the kingdom and his management of it in her absence during Shuriki's reign. Unlike his cousins, he is very knowledgeable of how much Avalor has changed during the Royal Family's imprisonment. In the episode "Spellbound", Esteban is among those attending Mateo's celebration as he succeeds his grandfather as Royal Wizard of Avalor. However, Alacazar's arch-enemy, the malvago wizard Fiero, turns Esteban to stone alongside Isabel, Luisa, and Francisco, to force Elena and Mateo to find the Codex Maru to undo the spell. In the end, Mateo turns Fiero's own spell back on him, turning him to stone, while Mateo uses the Codex to create the counter-spell and return Esteban and everyone else to normal, though not without Esteban noticing half of his mustache lying on his shoulder due to Naomi breaking it off earlier while he was stone and panicking about damaging him, leaving him very puzzled. In "Olaball", Esteban is with his grandfather to cheer on Elena and the Avalor Olaball team as they face the Cariza Olaball team. At first, it looks like Avalor will lose as Cariza takes an early lead, but thanks to Gabe and the training he completed with Elena, Avalor comes from behind to win the match, and Esteban is ecstatic with Francisco when they see Avalor won. In the episode "My Fair Naomi", concerned about being talked about by Dona Paloma and the other big members of Avalor City when Elena decides to throw a birthday party for Naomi, who wasn't from Avalor herself, fearing that if things go wrong, it could humiliate him for some time, Esteban aids Naomi in making her Royal Quinceanera party-perfect, causing Naomi to alienate Elena, Gabe, and Mateo in the process. However, when Naomi bails on her party to make amends with Elena and the others, Esteban thinks his fears will come true as Dona Paloma and the others start to gossip about Naomi leaving her party, but when Naomi returns with her friends and manages to dance with them and get everyone else involved, Esteban is impressed, and with his grandparents encouraging him that Avalor will be talking about the good parts of the party for a long time, Esteban makes sure it will stay that way, causing an unamused and defeated Dona Paloma to walk away in disgust at having failed to disgrace the Royal Family again. In "King of the Carnaval", Esteban is shocked when Victor Delgado and his daughter, Carla, return to help with the Carnaval, but in reality, they were seeking revenge against Esteban for not protecting them when Shuriki banished them upon taking over Avalor 41 years prior. Threatening to reveal his part in Shuriki's coup to his family, they blackmail him into stealing the Avalor Crown Jewels for them. However, when Esteban is forced to give them to Elena, Isabel, and his grandparents to wear, Victor provides a means to distract them for Esteban to steal them again, but when he is unable to take back Queen Lucia's tiara, which Elena was wearing, Victor drops the bombshell and tells Elena of Esteban's betrayal. However, when Esteban attempts to tell Elena that Victor was telling the truth, Elena however, is convinced that Victor was lying and Esteban would never do anything to harm their family. Realizing she did not buy Victor telling her the truth, Esteban goes with it, and together, they are able to stop Victor and Carla from escaping with the Crown Jewels and have them apprehended. Elena personally sees to it that they never return to Avalor again, but this results in Victor and Carla swearing revenge against her and all of Avalor, including Esteban for helping see to their exile again, despite trying to turn his family against him with the truth of his part in Shuriki's takeover. In the special "Realm of the Jaquins", Esteban is the only member of the Grand Council not happy with Elena for having ruled Avalor as Crown Princess for one year, leaving three more before she comes of age to be Queen, even feeling nervous when the mention of the Delgados is brought up, fearful of if Elena really learns of his part with Shuriki's takeover. He sees off Elena as she leaves on Luna to go watch the Guardian Test that Skylar's younger brother Nico is taking part in under Mateo, Migs, and Chief Zephyr's supervision. Esteban assists his grandfather in trying to fight off the plant growth of the forest sprite Marimonda, after being warned in advance of her attack on Avalor by Zephyr's Jaquins, alongside the Royal Guards, to little success until Elena manages to imprison her again thanks to an illusion created with the Scepter of Light. Learning afterward that the ones responsible for Marimonda's escape from Vallaestrella was Victor Delgado and his daughter when Elena tells their grandparents everything, Esteban prepares for their return once more, knowing they want revenge for what happened with the Crown Jewels. Unknown to him, Victor and Carla are working for Shuriki, who is planning revenge on Elena for her previous defeat. Whether Esteban will be dealt with by Shuriki for betraying her at the last moment previously after he had been her faithful servant since her original takeover is unknown. In "Royal Rivalry", when Elena calls an emergency meeting of the Grand Council to discuss the threat of Victor and Carla Delgado still being a threat to Avalor, Elena suggests allying with the neighboring kingdom of Paraíso, which Esteban is vehemently against due to Paraíso and Avalor being long-time rivals, and how if the Delgados make it across the border to Paraíso, they will never catch them and bring them to justice. Despite learning of what sparked the long-time feud from her grandparents, Elena suggests inviting the Paraíso Princess, Valentina, to Avalor to sign the peace treaty. When Elena calls the vote, Esteban is the only one to vote against it while everyone else supports Elena's idea. When Valentina arrives, she quickly begins boasting about Paraíso having better stuff, angering Esteban and his grandparents. In an attempt to quell the tension, Esteban and Elena take her to the Twin Xolos, but when Valentina finally pushes Elena too far herself, an attempt by Valentina to attack Elena brings the Twin Xolos statues to life, threatening everyone in the royal carriage. After Valentina confesses to being jealous of thinking Avalor had better stuff than Paraíso, she and Elena make amends and are able to return the Twin Xolos back to their inanimate forms. Valentina signs the treaty, and the Delgados and Shuriki are forced to rethink their plans once they see the increased patrols at the Avalor-Paraíso border. Afterwards, Esteban and Naomi try some of the Paraíso chocolate, but quickly agree that Avalor's is better. In "Three Jaquins and a Princess", Esteban is with Elena in the kitchen, checking out Armando as he prepares his entry for the Avalor Bake-Off when Isabel comes in to show off her latest invention. However, when an accident with it ends up causing the pies it was carrying to hit Esteban in the face, he reprimands his young cousin for it, hurting Isabel's feelings. Later though, he makes it up to Isabel and helps her with her invention before she goes off to play with Migs and Dulce's new children Mingo, Zoom, and Estrella. Later on, in the episode "Shapeshifters", Esteban learns of the return of Shuriki, and her new alliance with Fiero and the Delgados. When Elena vows to defeat Shuriki once and for all to ensure she can't threaten Avalor again, vowing to avenge her parents' murder at Shuriki's hands, Esteban is against it, saying the Royal Guards can handle it, with Francisco adding on that the Jaquins are looking for her as well. However, when Elena argues that she has to handle this, for the sake of her late parents, Esteban calls the Grand Council to vote on having Elena remain in the palace for her own safety under heavy guard from Gabe and his men. Francisco, Luisa, and Naomi all agree with Esteban, making it unanimous, but after Elena leaves saying they made the wrong choice, Esteban is still confident they made the right choice. Esteban is mentioned in "The Scepter of Night", as being away on a diplomatic visit to the neighboring kingdom of Cordoba with Francisco and Luisa, but his earlier ruling that Elena stays in the palace under guard remains in effect, which Gabe remains ironclad to maintaining, even when joining Elena, Gabe, and Naomi with pursuing Shuriki and getting the pieces of the Scepter of Night before she does. Esteban joins his grandparents, Elena, Isabel, Mateo, and the Turners as they travel to the Avalor Summer Palace in Nueva Vista for summer vacation in the one-hour special, "Song of the Sirenas". However, they have an encounter with the Sirenas while en route, and then meet up with Duke Cristobal upon arrival in Nueva Vista. Later on, following the parade held for Elena regarding her original defeat of Shuriki, Esteban is horrified alongside Francisco, Luisa, and Isabel, when they find themselves face-to-face with Shuriki, Fiero, the Delgados, Cruz, and Vestia, and are taken to be imprisoned in the tower. Elena joins them shortly afterwards with Princess Marisa, the crown princess of the Sirenas, revealing Duke Cristobal to be allied with Shuriki, having betrayed them for gold. Mateo, Naomi, and Gabe bust them out with Migs, Luna, and Skylar, and they attempt to flee back to Avalor City, but are pursued by Shuriki on the Duke's yacht. Luckily, Sirena King Pescoro and his people arrive to save Marisa, having been warned of her capture by her brother and Pescoro's son, Crown Prince Marzel, and soon after, Mateo petrifies Fiero again, and Elena kills Shuriki, leaving only the Jewel from the Scepter of Night behind, which Cruz escapes with alongside the Delgados and Vestia. Esteban is relieved to see Elena is alright and Shuriki is gone for good, before watching as Elena punishes Duke Cristobal for his treason, and forges a new alliance and friendship with King Pescoro and the Sirenas. Later on, in "Movin' On Up", Esteban doesn't take too kindly to some of the changes that Rafa makes to the palace due to her wanting to be with Mateo after he was granted his own quarters in the palace, still believing he needs her help. One, in particular, is a plant he tried to hide behind some curtains. Later on, when Rafa finally heads home, now convinced of Mateo's maturity and ability to handle himself without her support, Esteban is too late to return the plant to her before she departs. At the end of the episode, he drops it from the tower so it smashes on the ground below. In the Season Two finale, "Naomi Knows Best", Esteban joins Elena when she travels to King Joaquín's kingdom under the pretense that he had captured the Delgados, only to find that they had been lured into a trap so Carla's mother and Victor's wife, Ash Delgado, could drain Elena of the magic within her, which would kill her, using the salvaged Jewel from the Scepter of Night that Victor and Carla retrieved after Elena killed Shuriki, while Esteban is locked up with Joaquín, and later Gabe, after Gabe attempted to save Elena and botched the rescue attempt. However, thanks to Mateo and Naomi, Esteban and Joaquín are able to capture Victor, while Elena is rescued while Mateo destroys the Jewel, forcing Ash and Carla to retreat, swearing revenge for their defeat and Victor's arrest. Esteban returns to Avalor with the captured Victor to aid Princess Elena in preparing for Ash and Carla's return to rescue Victor and get their revenge on Princess Elena and her friends. In Season Three, "The Magic Within", Esteban's dark secret is later revealed. While his grandfather decided to forgive him for what he did in the past, Elena, Naomi, and his grandmother couldn't as they lost King Raul and Queen Lucia because of Shuriki's transgression through Esteban's selfish needs. He was supposed to be exiled in an abandoned land but he escapes with Ash Delgado. In "Dreamcatcher", Esteban tries to gain a hold of his new magic from the Well of Crystals, but soon finds himself confronting Elena again. Despite his best attempts to ask for forgiveness for his past allegiance to Shuriki, Elena refuses to forgive him and officially disowns him, kicking him out of the Royal Family of Avalor. Upon returning to Ash, with nothing left for him in Avalor, Esteban fully embraces the dark side and joins Ash to better gain control over his new magic. Trivia * As revealed in "Model Sister", Esteban spent some time in the Kingdom of Satu and is very knowledgeable of Satu's cuisine and culture. * Esteban is technically Elena's Regent, as he helped keep Avalor intact during her absence, and serves as Elena's mentor in leadership before she takes the throne. * According to "Island of Youth", Esteban was a picky eater when he was younger and that he was never able to pursue his own passions because he was always being told what to do. * Because Esteban was the only member of the family not magically protected (aside from Cristobal), he aged during the 41 years Shuriki ruled Avalor, unlike his cousins and grandparents, who remained the same ages since Isabel, Francisco, and Luisa were magically imprisoned in a painting and Elena in the Amulet of Avalor. * According to Craig Gerber, Lucia's sister is Esteban's mother, so since in Spanish names, the father's last name comes first and the mother's second, his name is Esteban "blank" Flores since we never learn his father's last name. **In Snow Place Like Home, Esteban revealed that his parents died in a sea storm when he was Isabel's age. Gallery Category:Characters Category:Main Characters Category:Males Category:Royalty Category:Villains Category:Magic users